Swoop Aero, Skyports, BD Rowa Partner to Integrate Air Logistics in the Pharmaceutical Industry

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

Today, drone service and technology leaders Swoop Aero and Skyports and pharmaceutical product provider BD Rowa announced the formation of a strategic partnership that aims to overhaul health supply chains across global markets by implementing autonomous air logistics into the pharmaceutical industry.  This collaboration will improve the health supply chain and system outcomes, resulting in major benefits for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries and their patients.

“There are so many touch points along the journey pharmaceutical products take from the point of manufacture to the point of patient care,” said Eric Peck, CEO and Co-founder of Swoop Aero. “Deploying technology at any one of these provides opportunities to improve healthcare system outcomes. By seamlessly integrating sustainable air logistics to deliver medical supplies, we have already seen significant improvements to access to medicine through our operations.”

“Next level thinking is to look outside your immediate field of focus, at what other leading providers are doing in the supply chain, and explore opportunities where collaboration can create more value,” Peck continued. “BD Rowa has a strong pedigree in developing automated storing and dispensing solutions for wholesalers, pharmacies, hospitals and patients. We are looking forward to working with them to augment the value they bring to health systems by integrating autonomous air logistics.”

Skyports views the healthcare and pharma sector as being full of opportunities for the application of drone logistics.

“We already know the power that drone logistics can bring to healthcare settings from our work with the NHS in the UK, transporting pathology samples and COVID-19 tests,” said Alex Brown, Director of Skyports Drone Services. “In just the UK to date, we have saved over 12,000 hours of patient waiting time, meaning that patients can start treatment sooner and get on with their lives. With this partnership with BD Rowa we’re bringing drone delivery to the pharmaceutical sector to provide speed, frequency and reliability to patients located in hard-to-reach communities across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. We look forward to rapidly expanding this service in collaboration with BD Rowa and Swoop Aero.”

BD Rowa, after recently expanding into the last mile delivery space, saw working with autonomous air logistics leaders as a clear next step.

“We were impressed with Swoop Aero’s technology and the impact they and Skyports were having deploying it in global markets in conjunction with major players in the healthcare industry,” said Mario Ulrich, Global Industry Leader Pharmaceutical Distribution Center, BD Rowa. “It was clear early on that we shared common ground. We are excited to bring this new technology and the specialist expertise of both Swoop Aero and Skyports to the table in our discussions with customers globally.”

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Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.